Santa hunting: Find Santa Claus at these places around the world

Have a jolly time with Santa and his elves at Santa Claus Village, Finland. — Santa Claus Village

Red suit, check. Sack of gifts, check. Belly laugh – “ho, ho, ho!” – check. Now Santa Claus is ready to cross names off his “who’s naughty and who’s nice” list.

If you’ve been bad, you get coal. If you’ve been good, your gift might just be a trip to see good ol’ Santa in person.

Best part is, you don’t have to do this visit specifically during the Christmas season. Thanks to year-round Christmas towns, you can go meet Santa and his elves anytime you wish!

(Disclaimer: In some places, Santa does make only seasonal appearances – hey, the jolly fellow has to rest too.)

Some of you might be chuffed with this idea, while some might scoff. But there’s no denying the magical feeling evoked by this fictional philanthropist and his band of little toymakers. Whether you believed in his existence or not, there is a small part of you that won’t completely reject seeing Santa in his element, even as a grown-up.

And where better to witness this than at places that are wholly dedicated to the festive season? It could be spring in March or summer in July, the moment you step into them, you get to experience eternal Christmas.

Whether it’s a town or a shop, there are plenty of Christmas-themed places operating all year long that you can visit to look for Santa and his merry friends.

Can you spot Santa? This traffic sign in Drobak, Norway says he is definitely around. — Visit Greater Oslo

Drobak (Norway)

According to the Visit Greater Oslo website, Drobak is where Santa Claus “officially” lives. Well, the charming little town is his official Norwegian residence, at least.

You know you’re in the right town when you see the Santa Claus Sign – a traffic sign bearing a Santa silhouette – located just outside the tourist information centre on the boat harbour.

Among the many quaint ­wooden buildings in the small town, one is known as Tregaardens Christmas House. Established in 1988 by Eva and Willy Johansen, the yellow-painted edifice is where you can find Christmas decorations of all kinds, some designed by Eva herself.

The house, despite its name, is open year-round. Aside from doing your Christmas shopping here, you can also send out letters, each specially stamped with a Santa Claus postmark. That’s because it is located within the same premises as Santa’s Post Office.

Since 1990, all letters addressed to Santa – or his many aliases: Babbo Natale (as he’s known in Italy), Pai Natal (Portugal), Papai Noel (Brazil), Viejo Pascuero (Chile), Pere Noel (France), Weihnachtsmann (Germany), Father Christmas (Britain), Dun Che Lao Ren (China) and Hoteiosho (Japan) – are delivered to Drobak.

While you can visit anytime of the year, doing so in wintertime adds another layer of whimsy as a thick blanket of snow covers the town.

Look out for Santa wandering about ... that Santa Claus Sign exists for a reason after all.

Rovaniemi (Finland)

Who can truly lay claim to the title of “Santa’s official hometown”? Because if you ask the Finns, Drobak won’t be the answer, Rovaniemi is.

Rovaniemi, the capital of Lapland in Finland, is where Santa (or Joulupukki, as he’s referred to in the Finnish language) can be found any time of the year.

Drop by the Santa Claus Office in Santa Claus Village – both are open all year long. Admission is free, so expect long queues when you visit during peak season. You can’t book ahead for your appointment, but you can skip the lines by getting an express pass from the Santa Claus Office website.

Also in the village is the Santa Claus’ Main Post Office. Multilingual elves work throughout the year here to assist you with your postal needs. Other than buying Christmas gifts and souvenirs, you can also order “a unique letter from Santa Claus”, as stated on the Visit Rovaniemi website.

Included in this letter are things like a “certificate of niceness” and a fun colouring card. Adding to the novelty are the Arctic Circle postmark and Santa’s special stamp that will be on each letter when it’s posted out.

(Tip: If you can’t order this in person, Posti, a Finnish postal and logistics service provider, does offer this same letter online as well.)

Of course, what is Santa without his herd of prancing reindeer? Right in the backyard of the Santa Claus Office – not the post office – you can enjoy reindeer rides. The activity is only available in winter and spring.

But visiting during the summer is not a bad idea either, because then you can visit Rovaniemi’s many reindeer farms and husky kennels.

Last winter, there was some concern over the lack of snow in Rovaniemi. Having to dig through hard ice instead of soft snow had made it hard for the reindeer to feed themselves. But it seems that things are looking up this year, as the first snow painted the city white in October, signalling a snowy winter.

Rothenburg Ob Der Tauber (Germany)

There is something about its half-timbered houses and cobblestone lanes that makes Rothenburg Ob Der Tauber so fantastically magical. Add a layer of powdery white snow, and the picturesque place looks straight out of a snow globe.

Whether your visit coincides with snowfall or not, the German town’s medieval architecture will serve as a visually arresting backdrop for your holiday photos all the same. Aesthetics aside, the town has plenty of other offerings that make it a charming destination.

For Christmas lovers especially, you can get your Noelle fix even when you visit outside of the festive season. Kind of expected from “the Christmas capital of Germany”...

Your first stop? Kathe Wohlfahrt’s Christmas Village. Nutcrackers ranging from small to life-size (gigantic even, in the case of the 3.8m-tall nutcracker king), Christmas trees of all sizes, various Santa mannequins and figurines – these are some of the things that will immediately draw your attention.

Look closer and you’ll find ornaments of all kinds, some exclusive to the Kathe Wohlfahrt brand.

One of the key photo spots here is the Gift Express, a vintage bus painted red, carrying stacks of gifts on top. Apparently, Santa ­forgoes his sleigh and uses this merry bus when he makes ­deliveries to the Christmas Village.

Connected to this village is the German Christmas Museum, which also remains open throughout the year. So, you can drop by anytime to learn a thing or two about Christmas, especially of how it is celebrated in this European country.

If you’re in Rothenburg Ob Der Tauber around November to December, there is another must-visit place where you can find unique gifts for your loved ones. Namely the annual Reiterlesmarkt or Christmas market. This year, it features 61 stalls and will run until Dec 23 (it opened on Nov 21).

Canada’s Almonte always has Christmas movies filming here regardless of the season. — Almonte Ontario

Almonte (Canada)

Meanwhile, Almonte, a quaint little town in Canada, has earned itself the moniker “the Christmas movie capital of Ontario”.

Almonte was once a mill town, but since the 2010s, it’s become more known as the filming location for various Christmas movies.

If you’re familiar with the looks and feel of Hallmark movies (think heartwarming romantic stories set in small towns), then you’ll understand why most of

its holiday movies are filmed here.

Its 19th century buildings, cobblestone streets and scenic river lend the town a cinematic look, perfect for the big screen.

It is also perfect for Christmas lovers, because no matter what time of the year you visit, chances are there’d be a holiday movie shooting here.

This means there’d be Christmas-related props, like festively decorated Christmas trees and beautifully wrapped giftboxes. The cast would highly likely include actors in Santa garbs too. This makes it feel like Christmas never ends in this charming town.

Of course, come November and December, you feel the spirit of the season more as the town ups the ante with its annual Christmas market and parade.

Another town in Ontario with a Christmassy reputation is Niagara-on-the-Lake. It is well known for Just Christmas, a shop that prides itself on being the oldest year-round Christmas emporium in Canada.

“We have over 5000 different Christmas items that are ever changing year after year,” the shop states on its website.

Aside from the usual Santa, snowman and gingerbread decorations, you can also get yourself and your loved ones personalised ornaments here. Or grab any of the cute themed ornaments that range from pets (like cats and dogs) and food (gingerbread, sushi) to hobbies (travel, crafts) and occupation (teachers, nurses).

As it is located in the town’s Heritage District, visiting the shop means you get to stroll around one of the town’s scenic areas.

The same district would be where the Christmas Village is held in December. This year it carries a Victorian theme, based on the novels of Charles Dickens.

If you visit during December, you’ll get to experience the Christmas markets and parades too.

North Pole (United States)

When it comes to Christmas-themed places in the United States, the country boasts a plethora of them.

Lest this list gets inundated with largely US-based attractions, let’s take a look at only one of them. One with a name that might risk mistaken identity – since to most people the North Pole is Earth’s northernmost point located in the Arctic Ocean, not the small Christmassy city in Alaska.

North Pole also shares its name with the mythical place where Santa’s toy workshop is located. Unsurprising, since that was the inspiration for this Alaskan city’s appellation, which it was christened with in 1952.

It would’ve been a fitting name for what was originally meant to be a spot for a toy manufacturer. The area gradually grew into a city, but still no toy factory was built. Despite this, the name remains and residents came to fully embrace their city’s Christmas image.

Now, when you visit, you can see lights that mimic the looks of candy canes, illuminating streets with names like Mistletoe Lane, Kris Kringle Drive, Donner Lane, Holiday Road and, of course, Santa Claus Lane.

Don’t be surprised to see Christmas parades on the streets even during summer, as the festive season really is ­celebrated year-long here.

In fact, summer is a great time to visit, as that’s when the Antler Academy is open. The full name Antler Academy (of Flying & Reindeer Games) should give you enough context clue about the establishment.

If you visit when the reindeer are out of commission, you can still have a joyful time right next door at the Santa Claus House.

Buy Christmas ornaments here and post a “letter from Santa”, a tradition that has lasted also since 1952. The letter, containing items like a Santa Claus dollar and Santa photo, will be postmarked from the North Pole.

Yiwu (China)

Speaking of North Pole – the fictional location, not the Alaskan city – there is an actual place in the world recognised as “Santa’s real workshop”.

Surprisingly, or perhaps unsurprisingly, it is not located anywhere in the West but is instead found in China. It makes sense that over 80% of the world’s Christmas-related items come from the largest manufacturing country in the world.

Santa’s workshop and China’s Christmas Village are apt monikers for Yiwu, a city in the Zhejiang province whose Christmas journey began following the opening of the Yiwu Market in 2002.

Known as the world’s largest wholesale market for small commodities, it is officially called Yiwu International Trade City. The “city” in its name accurately portrays the massive size of the market, which technically is divided into six multi-storey buildings spread across six districts.

Christmas goods are primarily sold all year long in District 1, though they are also found in District 2.

Unless you are a retailer, you may feel less inclined to pop by here. But where else could you experience a sprawling market so filled with Christmas knick-knacks – everything from shiny baubles and twinkling tinsels to cute elf figurines and fun Santa hats – that exploring it is akin to navigating an escape room?

Santa would certainly approve of this Christmassy maze.